Synergistic Red Fuse ...

^^^ No coating noted on the end caps. 

I left the CD player with the two BLACK fuses on "repeat" overnight. Just started listening about 30 minutes ago. Things are really starting to smooth out now. I'm liking what I'm hearing. 

So far, the BLACKS, compared with the RED's, are giving me a lower noise floor, more transparency and a more upfront presentation.

I noticed on one orchestral piece of really beautiful music ... Bach's "Air on a G String," that on the massed violins I could detect the individual players more distinctly. No "cringe factor" on the strings, if you know what I mean. Nice.  Also, voice is becoming real again. Nice. I'm a classical and Spanish guitar freak and know the instrument very well. The transparency of the system is letting me hear around the strings and sense the wood of the guitar. Same with cellos and acoustic bass. Nice. 

The sound stage is wall to wall, but still lacks the front to back layering of the RED's. Don't get me wrong, the BLACKS are improving in that area too. I'm keeping the CD player on "repeat" all day and tonight too. I figure this should bring me to about the 50 hour mark on the break-in procedure. 

So far, so good.  

Stay tuned ...

Charles1dad, you know I’m in the musical camp as well, I’ve listened to component's  that cost as much as a house that did nothing for me at all, I’ve got more musical pleasure from modded 2,000.000 speaker’s than 50,000.000 speaker’s, the merry go round is always a hit or miss, sometimes, cost has nothing to do with what can make an individual Happy.

Oregonpapa, 
Well the Black fuses are apparently moving in the right direction nice and steady. Time and patience is required for the performance progression. 
These fuses may be on the verge of blooming wide open. Thanks for the updates. 
Charles, 

^^^  Charles ... "blooming wide open" is exactly what the RED fuse did in my system. Interestingly enough, it happened between listening sessions overnight with the system turned off.   I don't understand this phenomenon,  but it has happened on other occasions with equipment or tweaks that are in the break-in period. How can anything continue breaking in when the power is turned off? I've had this experience with cartridges, cables and electronics as well. Not every time ... just some of the time.  Maybe some of our electrical engineers reading this can explain it. Is it just me ... or do molecules continue to align themselves properly without an electrical signal passing through? I failed math in high school ... but had the best dance moves at the prom.  *lol*

Oh, and last night I played that Curtis Counce CD in your honor. There is an extensive drum solo on one  of the cuts that puts the drummer right there in the room. 

Cheers ...

Oregonpapa; " How can anything continue breaking in when the power is turned off?" 
I know memory can be a funny thing and I know this is true in my case. Having said that I am very sure this happened to me twice.
The RED changed in a significant manner while turned off for 20 hours at the forty hour break in point. This is when I knew there was no way that darn fuse was ever coming out of my amp.
The only other time a huge change took place to my gear while turned off was when I installed a Entreq Audio Silver Telus. Connected it to my amp played music for several hours then perhaps 20 hours later started up some music and.... WOW!